Thursday, 3 June 2004

Over at The Command Post you'll find a rarity : two back-to-back Op-Ed columns by me, both dealing (though in different ways) with the Iraq war, and World War II.

In the first, by the unsubtle technique of changing just a few placenames, the truly woeful state of post-war media coverage is exposed. But there's another interpretation : the situation in Germany in 1946 was truly dire, with widespread starvation and near-starvation. The New York Times reports were, on the whole, not too inaccurate in painting a picture of Doom and Gloom. Yet it all turned out well in the end.

In the second, I tried to remind people (if they ever knew) just exactly how strong the Peace movement (usually and inaccurately called the 'Apeasement' movement) was in the USA in 1941. Or at least, up until December 7th. The continuing Anti-war demonstrations, and quality of the arguments against involvement in Iraq, are pale shadows of those of over 60 years ago. Given the enormities committed by Josef Stalin's murderous regime, and the decidedly un-free millions ruled by the British and French Empires, the Allied cause was far less visibly beyond reproach than the Coalition's today.

After Pearl Harbor, the Allied cause became even more dubious. 'Unlawful Combatants', even if American citizens, were tried by military tribunals and executed within a week. Innocent civilians were slain by the thousands, by the tens of thousands, the hundreds of thousands. But few would argue the moral righteousness of the Allied cause today. Few who have studied what means and technologies were available to the Allies at the time would say that the methods were obviously and unneccessarily harsh, though those methods would neither be appropriate nor justifiable in today's environment.

Oh yes, the title of this post? From an all-but-forgotten movie from 1976. A good idea amateurishly executed, it deserves a re-make, even though it tries to banish the Spectres of Auschwitz and Treblinka by singing 'Give Peace a Chance'. Much like the 'America First' Committee in 1941, or the Anti-War factions today. But unlike today, at least the Appeasers and Peace-At-Any-Pricers weren't attempting to purvey their shoddy and devalued intellectual wares in 1946. Many looked at Dresden and Hiroshima, and asked if it was all worth it. Today, we look at the Abu Ghraib photos, and ask ourselves the same question. And if that doesn't offend your sense of proportion, nothing will.

About Me

Actually, I am a Rocket Scientist.
Also hormonally odd (my blood has 46xy chromosomes anyway) and for most of my life, I looked male, and lived as one, trying to be the best Man a Gal could be. Anyway, in May 2005 that started changing naturally for reasons still unclear, and I'm now Zoe, not Alan : happier and more relaxed not to have to pretend any more.
UPDATE - reason now identified as the 3BHSD form of CAH.

Reviews

This blog, written by a rocket scientist, is a fascinating collection of information, both personal and scientific, regarding intersex, transsexualism and related psychosocial and psychosexual issues....It is erudite and heartfelt. Just read the posts about the passport issue. You won't know whether to laugh, weep or crawl into a ball and rock gently in a corner - an amazing person.- David---The reason I so appreciate bright, perceptive people - as opposed to ideologues whose intelligence does little to illuminate - is that they manage to both instruct and learn with a certain grace. Among such rarities in the transblogosphere is Zoe, whose direct speech and clear humanity always make her worth reading, even if one doesn’t always agree with her every conclusion.- Val---The following is a request for permission to archive your A.E.Brain blog site which we have wanted to do for several years...The Library has traditionally collected items in print, but it is also committed to preserving electronic publications of lasting cultural value....Since (1996) we have been identifying online publications and archiving those that we consider have national significance....We would like to include A.E.Brain blog site in the PANDORA Archive...-Australian National Library